Jan. 17, 2005
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Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Arena: Norm Stewart Court at Mizzou Arena (15,061) - 1st season
TV: Mizzou Sports Network (Dan McLaughlin, play-by-play; Norm Stewart, analyst)
Radio: Tiger Radio Network (Mike Kelly, play-by-play: Gary Link, analyst)
Rankings: Neither team was ranked or receiving votes in the last poll
Series: MU leads 7-5 : Last Meeting: TTU, 87-76 on Mar. 3, 2004 in Lubbock, TX
Coaches:
Missouri: Quin Snyder (Duke '89) 109-70 at MU and overall (6th season).
Texas Tech: Bob Knight (Ohio State '62) 78-37 at TTU (4th season) and 842-326 overall (39th season).
Tigers Face Red Raiders on Wednesday in Columbia
The University of Missouri men's basketball squad (9-7 overall, 1-2 in the Big 12) looks to snap a two-game losing streak on Wednesday when it welcoms Texas Tech (10-4, 2-1 Big 12) to Mizzou Arena. After winning five of six contests from Dec. 11-Jan. 8, Mizzou has dropped games at Oklahoma State and Kansas State but hopes to extend its current five game winning streak at home. Mizzou has averaged 67.2 points per game at home this season and has held opponents to just 60.8 points per contest at Mizzou Arena.
Linas Kleiza has led Mizzou in both scoring and rebounding in each of the last two games. He scored a game-high 14 points while pulling down eight boards against Kansas State. Kleiza averages 15.8 points and 7.1 boards per contest. However, he is one of only two Tigers to average double figures in scoring (the other being senior Jason Conley with 10.6 points per game) and has struggled in his last two home games averaging 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in the Tigers' tilts with Gonzaga and Iowa State.
Heading into Wednesday's game, Mizzou has 14 games remaining in the regular season including seven home games and seven road games. The contest will be broadcast on the Tiger Radio Network with Mike Kelly handling the play-by-play duties and former Tiger great Gary Link offering expert analysis. The game can also been seen around the state of Missouri on the Mizzou Sports Network with Dan McLaughlin and Tiger coaching legend Norm Stewart on the call. Mizzou is 7-3 this season in games broadcast on the Mizzou Sports Network and 2-1 when Stewart dons the headset. In a related note, Coach Stewart will turn 70 on Wednesday.
Quick Hits
Mizzou has won five straight at home since it defeated Montana on Dec. 11 ... The Tigers check in with an RPI of 88 and their schedule was ranked as the 17th toughest slate in the country according to CollegeRPI.com on Monday night ... The Tigers are allowing their opponents to score only 64.1 points per game ... If they can maintain that average, it would be the lowest average a Tiger squad has allowed since 1998-99 (63.2 points per game) ... Junior Kevin Young is coming off a career-best 10 points while pulling down seven rebounds against Kansas State ... Mizzou is 4-2 against Texas Tech under Head Coach Quin Snyder and is 2-0 in Columbia vs. the Red Raiders ... Coach Snyder is 1-3 against Texas Tech Coach Bobby Knight ... The Tigers have won five of their last six home Big 12 contests dating back to last season ... Sophomore Linas Kleiza has connected on his last 15 free throw attempts ... Mizzou is 8-0 this season when leading at halftime this season ... The Tigers are 9-2 at Mizzou Arena this season, but are 0-5 away from home ... After playing 11 of their first 16 games at home, the Tigers will play four of their next seven games on the road ... Head coach Quin Snyder is looking for win number 110 at Mizzou ... Junior Jimmy McKinney has now started 72 straight regular season games for Mizzou, dating back to Dec. 30, 2002 against Valparaiso ... McKinney and fellow junior Kevin Young are the only Tigers to start all 16 games this season ... After giving up eight three-point field goals per game during the first seven contests of the season, the Tigers have allowed just 33 three pointers (3.7 threes per game) over the course of the last nine games and have held those opponents to a combined 30.5 percent from three (33-of-108).
About the Red Raiders
Winners of five of their last six, Texas Tech enters Wednesday's contest with a 10-4 overall mark and a 2-1 record in the Big 12. After dropping their Big 12 opener to defending Big 12 Champ Oklahoma State, TTU has won two straight including wins at Kansas State and at home on Saturday against Texas A&M. All five Texas Tech starters average in double figures and are led by senior Ronald Ross, who averaging 15.1 points and is shooting a team-best 55.4 percent from the field. Balance is the name of the game for TTU with five players averaging between 15.1 and 11.0 points per contest.
TTU has also been excellent defensively, allowing opponents to shoot just 35.8 percent from the field and outscoring them them by an average of 17.6 points per game. Coaching legend Bob Knight is in his fourth season at TTU and his 39th season overall. He has won 78 games at TTU and 842 games overall. He has led Texas Tech to the NCAA Tournament in two of his first three seasons at the helm.
Series - Mizzou leads, 7-5- Last Meeting:
TTU, 87-76 in Lubbock, TX on Mar. 3, 2004
A Look Back ... Mizzou vs. Kansas State
Sophomore Linas Kleiza led Mizzou in both scoring (14 points) and rebounding (8 boards) for the fourth time this season and for the second time in as many games. The Tigers allowed Kansas State to eclipse its scoring average (73.1) with 74 points, marking the first time in 10 games Mizzou has allowed an opponent to do so.
Missouri Team Notes after the Kansas State Game
· The Tigers fall to 9-7 overall and 1-2 in the Big 12. They are 9-2 at home, 0-3 in neutral court games and 0-2 in road contests so far this season.
· Missouri has now lost two straight for the first time since it dropped games on back-to-back games in the semifinal and consolation rounds of the Guardians Classic on Nov. 23-24, 2004.
· Head Coach Quin Snyder is now 109-70 overall in his six years at Mizzou. He falls to 9-2 against KSU and 32-21 against teams from the Big 12 North.
· The Tigers still lead the all-time series with the Wildcats, 112-108 and have won 12 of the last 17 meetings between the two squads.
· The Tigers wore their black uniforms in Manhattan for the first time this season. They are obviously 0-1 in those uniforms
· The Tigers and the Wildcats will face off one more time during the regular season on Jan. 29 in Columbia.
· Mizzou scored 32 points in the paint compared to KSU's 26.
· Mizzou committed a season-high 26 fouls. The Tigers last two opponents have connected on 51-of-63 from the free throw line.
· The Tigers equaled their second lowest point total of the season with the 54-point effort.
· Mizzou has officially past the halfway point of its regular season. Last year, the Tigers were 8-8 through their first 16 games.
Missouri Player Notes after the Kansas State Game
· Sophomore Linas Kleiza recorded scored a team-high 14 points in the game. He has reached double figures in scoring for the 13th times this season and has led Mizzou in scoring in nine games. Ten of Kleiza's 14 points came in the second half along five of his eight rebounds.
· Kleiza also led Mizzou in rebounding with eight boards, marking the ninth time he has accomplished that feat as well.
· Junior Kevin Young scored a career-best 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting while also pulling down seven boards on the night.
· Junior Jimmy McKinney started his 72nd straight contest.
· With his seven-rebound performance, senior Jason Conley has grabbed five or more rebounds in six of the Tiger's last seven contests.
Bench Marks
The Tigers who have come off of the bench for Mizzou have played a key role this season. When the Tigers' bench has outscored the opponent's bench, they are 7-3. Mizzou's bench has averaged 19.9 points per contest compared its opponent's mark of 15.9 points per game. Thomas Gardner has come off of the bench in 11 of the Tigers' games and leads the way averaging 9.2 points per game.
Tigers Set School Record for Team GPA in Fall Semester
The University of Missouri men's basketball team continues to achieve both on and off the court this season
With final grades now set for the 2004 fall semester at Mizzou, the reports show that the men's basketball team has established a record for its team grade point average. Bryan Maggard, MU's Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services, says that the Tiger men's team came in with a cumulative team GPA of 2.91 this past fall - which was the highest single semester mark in recorded history for an MU men's basketball squad.
According to Maggard, four Tiger cagers had GPAs of over 3.0 on the standard 4.0 scale, and two will earn a place on the coveted Dean's List.
The achievement comes on the heels of the 2004 NCAA Graduation Report, which shows that the Missouri men's basketball team led the Big 12 Conference in graduation rates, at 67%. The next-best rate in the league belonged to Colorado (40%), followed by Texas Tech and Kansas (33%) and Nebraska (20%). The rates represent students who enrolled in 1997-98 and graduated within six years.
Conley Comes Alive!
After being held to a season-low two points (on 0-of-3 shooting) against Illinois on Dec. 22, senior Jason Conley has put together some of the most impressive games of his career at Mizzou so far. Over the course of the last five contests, Conley has averaged 11.6 points and 7.6 rebounds. He has reached double figures in scoring in four of those five contests and has recorded double-doubles in two games.
He led Mizzou to a 62-59 win over Iowa State on Saturday with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting including two three pointers. Conley recorded a second double-double in as many games against American, scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 rebounds while also handing out five assists on the night. Nine of those points and six of those rebounds came in the second stanza.
The native of Silver Spring, MD, played one of the most dynamic games of the year against Gonzaga, scoring 16 points (on 7-of-13 shooting) while also pulling down a career-best 13 rebounds. The double-double was the first of Conley's career and was the second double-double a Tiger guard has produced this season. The other was Thomas Gardner's 19-point, 12-rebound effort to open the season against Brown.
At the Line with Linas
At the risk of totally jinxing the progress the Tigers made from the free throw line on of late, we offer this intriguing analysis of the Tigers' free throw shooting, in particular in regard to sophomore Linas Kleiza. The Tigers knocked down a season-high 90.0 percent (18-of-20) from the free throw line against OSU after entering the contest shooting just 64.1 percent on the season.
They were spurred by Kleiza's remarkable 13-for-13 shooting from the stripe, setting a new career best for free throws made in a game. Linas has made a living at the free throw line this season, getting to the charity stripe 103 times already. Kleiza has hit 73 of those attempts, good for 70.9 percent accuracy. He has been particularly impressive the past seven games, knocking down 47-of-59 attempts (79.7 percent) and has averaged just under 10 trips to the line per game during that stretch.
Doing it with Defense
One of the main focuses of the Tigers' efforts has been and will be improving on the defensive end. Its no secret how the Tigers have won seven of their last 11 contests. Mizzou has given up only 62.4 points per contest during that stretch. The Tigers have held nine of their last 10 opponents below their season scoring average after allowing Kansas State to score 74 points (they had averaged 73.1 points per game coming into the contest.
Mizzou limited American to just 51 points (a season low for the Eagles) and 34.5 percent shooting from the floor..
After holding No. 1 Illinois to only 70 points (14 below their season average) before the Holidays, the Tigers stepped up their defense once again against Gonzaga. Mizzou held the high-powered Zags offense that was averaging 80 points per contest and 52 percent shooting from the field to just 61 points and 38.3 percent shooting from the floor in the upset win.
Mizzou recorded a great defensive performance against Indiana, holding the Hoosiers to just 53 points, the second lowest total the Tigers have allowed this season. Mizzou held Indiana's leading scorer Bracey Wright to just 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting and forced 15 Hoosier turnovers.
Against Montana, the Tigers held the Griz to only 38.3 percent shooting from the field while also blocking a season-high seven shots. They allowed only one Grizzly to reach double figures in scoring and nabbed nine steals in the win.
Against Arkansas, the Razorbacks were averaging nearly 78 points per contest heading into the game and were hitting their three-point attempts at a 42.4 percent clip. Even though the final outcome wasn't what the Tigers had hoped for, they did make strides on the defensive end holding Arkansas to only 62 points (16 points off of their average) and shut down U of A from three (12.5 percent - 1-of-8).
Shouldering the Load
Linas Kleiza has recovered fully from a shoulder separation he experienced half way through last season and it looks as though he will be shouldering a major part of the Tiger offense this season. The All-Big 12 Preseason Honorable Mention recipient has been amazing offensively so far this season and continues to improve on defense.
After struggling to just four points in the first half against Kansas State, Kleiza scored 10 of his team-high 14 points while also pulling down eight rebounds against KSU. The offensive juggernaut reached the 20-point plateau for the fourth time this season against Oklahoma State when he dumped in 24 points while going a perfect 13-of-13 from the free throw line. Kleiza scored 25 (of Mizzou's 64) points, pulled down seven rebounds and handed out three assists against Illinois.
After scoring just three points in the opening half against Indiana, Kleiza poured in 15 of his game-high 18 points in the second half including 12 free throws in the win.
He had the best offensive game of his career against Montana, scoring a career-best 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. Kleiza recorded the fifth double-double of his career against Arkansas with a team-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. He broke out of mini-scoring funk with 13 points, nine boards and nine assists against Oakland while turning the ball over just one time, something he has been focusing on improving all season. He is definitely Mizzou's most versatile player as he leads the team in scoring (15.8 ppg.), rebounds (7.1 rpg.) and is third on the squad in assists (35).
The Youth of the Tiger Nation
The freshmen on the Tiger roster have started to really assert themselves on the court for Mizzou. Over the course of the last ten games, Marshall Brown, Kalen Grimes, Jason Horton and Glen Dandridge have combined to score 27.8 percent of the Tigers points (194-of-699) and all four of them have set or equaled career highs in points during that stretch.
Horton equaled a career high with 12 points for the second straight game against Iowa State. He and Brown had great outings against American. Horton scored a career-best 12 points while Brown chipped in with nine as the Tigers took out the Eagles. The foursome was great against Gonzaga, combining for 16 points and 10 rebounds. Horton scored six points and handed out three assists and recorded no turnovers in 37 minutes while running the Tiger offense. Dandridge and Grimes also had solid nights. Dandridge scored five points on 2-of-3 shooting while also recording a steal, a block and an assist in seven minutes of playing time while Grimes set a career-best with six rebounds.
A Peek at the Mizzou Arena
On September 21, 2002, a new and exciting phase for Missouri Basketball began with the groundbreaking for a brand new, $75 million state-of-the-art facility. The new arena is an imposing place to play for opposing teams and provides unbelievable options for the Tigers when it comes to player development. In addition to more seating, with a capacity of 15,061, there are a host of other exciting additions:
Ø 26 Luxury Suites
Ø State-of-the art training room
Ø Expanded locker room facilities complete with film room and player lounge
Ø Practice gym
Ø Basketball office complex
Ø Box office and team store
Ø Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame
Mizzou Arena houses all the up-to-date technologies desired in a modern sports facility. Both men's and women's basketball programs have video game film viewing theaters; all coaches offices and meeting rooms have cable TV hook-ups and both private (suites, clubs) and public (concession stands, retail store) areas throughout the arena have direct-game and cable televisions in place. Adjacent to the west side truck dock are dedicated and secured television production and satellite truck parking areas with permanent patch-in panels. The audio-video room within the arena is also linked to Missouri's two major sports venues - the Hearnes Center and Memorial Football Stadium. The arena contains a center-hung scoreboard-video board as well as 30" high video ribbon board located above the luxury suites where the lower and upper seating bowl transition occurs.
New Editions
No, I am not going to break into a rendition of "Cool it Now" or "Candy Girl" (as much as you all would enjoy that) but Mizzou has two members of its staff that are beginning new editions of their careers. And like the group "New Edition," you might say that the newest members of the Tiger coaching family are old school.
Associate Head Coach Melvin Watkins joined the Tigers in July after six years as head coach at Texas A&M and a two year stint as head coach at UNC-Charlotte. Watkins has brought a wealth of experience and energy to the Tiger bench. The other new face on the Tiger bench is assistant coach Jeff Meyer, who most recently was an assistant at Butler University for three years. Meyer brings 25 years of coaching experience to Mizzou including 16 years as a head coach at Liberty University. He also joined the Tiger bench in July.
Coach Quin Snyder
6th Year at MU
109-70
In his sixth year at the helm of the Mizzou basketball program is Quin Snyder. Missouri's 15th head coach, Snyder has built a program that has joined the upper echelon of college basketball. With a focus on developing players academically, physically, skillfully and socially, Snyder's squads have enjoyed trips to the post season in each of the last five seasons including four trips to the NCAA Tournament. Mizzou has averaged exactly 20.0 wins per contest during Snyder's five-year tenure at Mizzou. The intense competitor the Tiger players call "Coach Q" won his 100th career game last season when Mizzou defeated Texas A&M in the Big 12 Tournament. He became the fourth coach in Mizzou school history to reach the 100-win plateau and Snyder will have a great opportunity to add to that total with a contract that will keep him as a fixture on the Tiger bench through 2007-08.
In 2004-05, Mizzou returns several of its top players including senior Jason Conley, junior Jimmy McKinney and sophomores Thomas Gardner and Linas Kleiza. Snyder and his staff also gathered a sixth straight Top 25 recruiting class to augment the already talented roster. Mizzou has moved to a new state-of-the-art home this season, the Mizzou Arena, which holds around 15,000 rowdy Missouri fans and gives the Tigers an unbelievable opportunity to build on the foundation of success that has been established.
Given the success and excitement Snyder's squads have generated in his five years at the helm, it is not surprising that Tiger fans are looking for big things from Mizzou in 2004-05. In 2003-04, Snyder led the Tigers to wins over Top 20 teams such as Oklahoma State and Oklahoma. He also saw his second recruiting class of Arthur Johnson, Rickey Paulding, Travon Bryant and Josh Kroenke complete outstanding careers at Mizzou. Johnson and Paulding both jumped into the Top 10 on the Tiger scoring charts and Johnson finished his career as the Tigers' all-time leader in blocked shots and rebounds. That outstanding class also finished their career having played in the most NCAA Tournament contests of any class in school history with eight.
A native of the Pacific Northwest, Snyder, 37, attended Mercer Island High School in the state of Washington. A two-time state player of the year, Snyder led the team to the 1985 state championship. During this time, Mercer Island achieved a No. 1 ranking in USA Today's high school polls. Snyder was named a McDonald's All-America player, being the first ever chosen from the state of Washington.
Snyder and his wife, the former Helen Redwine, a native of Charlotte, N.C, have one son, Owen Redwine Snyder, born on December 25, 2002.